ITS Education Group is a 25-year-old group, having four campuses and offering various courses in fields such as engineering, management, pharmacy and medical studies, biotechnology and microbiology among others. To keep pace with digital transformation in the higher education sector, the group has been evaluating new technology use cases every year, having already adopted several digital technologies over the last few years.
Sharing a broad perspective on technology-enabled higher education, Dr Vikas Singh, Executive Director, ITS Education Group, says, “In the last 25 years, we have seen a lot of technological interventions. However, the last five-six years, there has been a paradigm shift in terms of technology adoption in the higher education sector. The adoption of technology can be seen in all functions of an educational institution – branding, interaction with students and aspirants, admissions, fee and document collection, attendance, results, etc. Technology is playing an instrumental role in every aspect of the institution’s processes.”
Tech-driven ecosystem
ITS Education Group is using iCloud software, ERP and LMS system across its campuses. In the last few years, the group has ramped up technology adoption across functions. For instance, it is using an application wherein students can connect with mentors and department heads, and an online complaint management system for students, which ensures timely resolutions. The group’s entire fee collection process is also done digitally, with an exception of just one-two per cent of students. Moreover, two years ago, it has made significant investment in improving the network infrastructure of its campuses.
Dr Singh informs, “In terms of teaching and imparting education as well, there is a lot of technology penetration. In a typical case, students usually face difficulty in choosing specialisation in the second year of their course. To address this, we have created analytical profiling of students, called Individual Career Plan (ICP), which allows students to choose their areas of interest and and channelise their efforts in that direction. Once students choose their areas of interest, this system provides them with a detailed focus plan throughout their course. Through this system, we also track the student’s progress, which allows us to provide continuous guidance to them.”
He says, “Our focus is also to ensure that every activity is outcome oriented. We are using software to analyse the expected outcome and the outcome achieved from various academic activities such as industrial visits, special projects, etc. This helps us in bridging the gaps that may be existing, and ensure efficient delivery of programmes and development of students.”
Furthermore, the group has adopted biometrics and mobile application based attendance system, which has improved transparency and availability of information; the faculty and parents can check students’ detailed attendance information anytime.
He says, “We follow a continuous approach in terms of technology adoption, and our decisions are driven by the needs. Starting with our own email server to ERP system five years ago, we have been constantly looking at various use cases of new technologies.”
Blended approach
Last year, ITS Education Group rolled out one of its key projects. The group started using chatbots for resolving queries and providing information to students and aspirants. This, Dr Singh informs, has been a very successful initiative.
He explains, “Similarly, every year, we look for new use cases. Further, with emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, their integration into our CRM system, and digital platforms, student experience will increase exponentially. Taking cue from the success of our chatbot for aspiring students, we are now rolling out a chatbot for employees.”
The ongoing COVID-19 has pushed organisations across all industry verticals adopt remote working model, allowing employees to strictly work from home. In dealing with such unprecedented circumstances, all of the group’s faculty members are equipped to conduct live lectures remotely and maintain uninterrupted information sharing with students through tools such as Zoom and WhatsApp.
“This has helped in coping with the COVID-19 situation. We are further leveraging our ERP system to share study material with students. Even in this time of crisis, we are trying to create an experience for students, which is as real as a classroom. The current crisis has pushed educational institutions and students to digital platforms. However, during this period the faculty can get sensitised with these platforms, thereby preparing them for the digital future of education. I see huge scope for this kind of blended learning approach — a combination of traditional classrooms and digital platforms — in the country’s higher education sector. This approach will provide us scalability and mass outreach capabilities, allowing us to impart education to larger groups of students,” adds Dr Singh.